Choroid plexus epithelial cells (CPECs) are a relatively understudied cell type in the nervous system with untapped clinical potential. These cells are the primary cells comprising the choroid plexus, the tissue that produces the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that bathes and nourishes the human brain. The CPECs also form a physical bather (“blood-CSF bather”) and have important adsorptive functions that protect the brain from toxins. Atrophy and other defects in CPECs have been implicated in human neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease, and choroid plexus transplant studies have shown benefit in animal models of some of these diseases. The ability to generate large number of CPECs in culture, which is not currently possible, should therefore enable a number of novel clinical applications.
In prior animal model studies, whole choroid plexus dissected from donor rodents or pigs have been used as transplant sources. A human source for transplantable CPECs has not previously been available. In addition, unlike some other epithelia in the human body, the CPECs are not highly proliferative and do not turnover significantly, which makes expansion of CPECs from the endogenous choroid plexus in culture less feasible.